KWB Chartered Professional Accountants has a proactive plan for continued operation in this new environment. You and our team are our first priority. We want to inform you of what changes we have made, so we can continue to complete the work you need us to do, while protecting both you and the members of our team.
- As of today, March 18, 2020, our office remains open for business for the drop off of personal and corporate information. Many team members are working remotely and may not be available for in-person meetings. Any in-person meetings should be scheduled in advance so that we can ensure your needs are met.
- We are encouraging you to choose video or telephone conferencing for upcoming meetings and will be in contact with you if you already have a meeting scheduled. We use Zoom for video calls and screen sharing. We find this method very effective and prudent in this environment. We will provide the web links for this via email. You can participate in a video call with any device (computer, tablet, or phone) that has a camera and microphone.
- For some time now, KWB has employed secure technologies to allow our team to work remotely. Our team is simply taking full advantage of this technology.
- Team members that are not feeling well are self-quarantined at home. No one on our team has returned from traveling outside of Canada since the two-week protocol was established. Our entire team is practicing the recommended hygiene procedures at home as well as in the office.
- We are encouraging you to send us your personal or corporate records electronically as a first choice. If unable to do so, then drop them off or have them delivered to our office. We will be sending out a separate email to provide you with an upload link and to discuss best practices for uploading documents.
- Should delivering paper copies be unavoidable, we will have someone at reception from 8:00a – 12:00p, and 1:00p – 5:00p, Monday to Friday and from 9:00a – 1:00p on Saturday. We will provide updates should our posted hours change. We have protocols for deliveries posted on our entrance door and ask that you help us by working within them. All paper documents will be “quarantined” for at least 48 hours before processing to minimize the spread of the virus.
- If we require your signature we can obtain it by electronic means. We do not require your original signatures on any documents. Good quality pictures or scans are sufficient. We will be sending out a separate e-mail discussing best practices for organizing your tax documents.
- Any cheques previously provided to us to send in on your behalf will still be couriered to the relevant tax authority in a timely manner. Please pay CRA balances by using the ‘CRA – My Payment’ service (https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/payment-save-time-pay-online.html), or any tax balance at your local bank or through its online banking system. Please contact us should you require assistance with this.
- Payments for our services can be made in a variety of ways if you are not coming into our office. Our preference is to receive them via your online banking. Look for KWB LLP alongside all the other businesses you can pay within your online banking. Interact e-transfers also work (sent to [email protected]), and we can take your credit card payment over the phone.
As of today, the CRA just announced that the tax filing deadline has been extended to June 1st, and the tax payment deadline postponed to at least July 31st. We continue to push ahead, completing your work within the expected time frame. We recommend that you still have your return filed as soon as you are able to do so. Relying on having it done in May might be problematic as we do not know what will be happening then. Filing sooner will accelerate any refunds you are entitled to, and if you owe money, it still does not need to be paid until July 31, 2020, even if the return is filed now.
These are uncertain times, however we can assure you that our commitment to you and our team remains consistent.
If you have any questions or concerns, kindly email us: [email protected]. You can also keep checking our social media pages for timely updates.
